Review: It's Hard Out Here for a Duke

It's Hard Out Here for a Duke by Maya Rodale
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have not read the first three of this series, but I want to now.

Rodale plays her character's angst with a light touch, giving a good feel for their feelings and difficulties without it getting too dark.
Meredith is a sensible and loyal individual which set-up a very interesting internal fight for her when she falls in love with the one person in the world she shouldn't. I adore sensible characters, that coupled with how much she loves her found family and wants to do the best for them really twists one's heart.
I got a little irritated at James as through the first part of the book he was very respectful of Meredith's wishes and follows her lead on their relationship, but towards the end he doesn't get pushy per say, just a bit too wrapped up in his own desires.

Things work out though, thanks to his sisters whom I now need to go and read their books. There are some blatant nods to Jane Austen which can be a bit distracting, but fun at the same time. Fast, fun read.

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Review: The Mermaid's Madness

The Mermaid's Madness by Jim C. Hines
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had read Hine's Stepsister book a few years ago and remembered liking it so picked this one up when it came across my path.
I don't know what it was but I kept having to restart it. I just couldn't get into the first 10 pages. I finally just skipped towards the end of the first chapter and that seemed to do it.

Major Warning:
Although this book has it's funny moments, Hines is using old school fairytales as his foundation, thus there are a lot of references to past sexual assault, different kinds of abuse, etc of the main characters. If reading that might be hard or triggering for you I suggest perhaps looking for something else. That said, the instances are treated well, but it makes it hard to read some parts.

And perhaps that's the main thing that makes this book difficult to read, you can't fault the Mermaid for trying to get some kind of revenge even as it effects the main characters. Once you get through the first 2 or so chapters the pace picks up and the story moves pretty quickly, almost to the point to leave you breathless. It's like the story equivalent of ripping off a Band-Aid. An approach that works well for the subject matter.

We learn a bit more about the back stories of the main characters, Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty, and most of it is Grim like the writers and the subjects. Sometimes the humor hit at weird times that made scenes feel weird even as it was trying to lighten the mood. Hines makes a very good attempt overall of dealing with some pretty intense issues without letting the story slide into a super depressing realm, but there were parts that were still difficult to get through.

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Review: His Cocky Valet

His Cocky Valet by Cole McCade
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So I initially bought this book because of #cockygate and I am a petty and easily amused person.
I was not expecting as much as I got out of it.

I haven't read that much in the way of erotic/special interest romances, but I found that I did enjoy this one. although I thin that the relation and dynamic could have been fleshed out a bit more between the main characters, I give points to how much was done with how quickly this was written. There is a lot of angst covered in the narrative, I think given a bit more time that McCade would have really dialed that in even more.

Fast read, a good book to dip ones toe into the waters on more intense romantic relationships.

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Review: The English Lieutenant's Lady

The English Lieutenant's Lady by Evelyn M. Hill
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was not sure I would really enjoy a ‘clean’ christen-centric romance novel, neither approaches are really in my wheelhouse when it comes to reading. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised that I did enjoy this one.

Set in a place that I haven’t seen show-up in many historical romances, frontier Oregon, it was interesting to read about the area on the tipping point of great social change.

The allusion to the main character’s relationship with the Natives in the area at the start of the book was a bit on the clunky side of things. I got the feeling that Hill was trying to include some diversity into the story and characters but wasn’t quite sure how to do it without stepping on any toes. I’m not sure if the author talked to anyone with Native ancestry from the area, but having someone consult on that to bolster that aspect would have improved the story a little.

That said, there is a lot of angst and you find yourself pulling for the main characters to work it all out as they both seem so nice. The Bible quotes and religious references seem time period appropriate and not overwhelming. The jumps through time, the story covers a while winter, was a bit disconcerting. It felt like we could have spent more time in the world getting to know the community and people more, as it is, the story is very contained to, and driven by the main characters.

Fast read, skims some of the harder issues but still references them and is nice to not have an all-white cast in a historical book.


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Review: Secrets of a Wallflower

Secrets of a Wallflower by Amanda McCabe
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Dandelion fluff.
This book is like the book equivalent of dandelion fluff.

There isn’t anything wrong with it, rich debutantes at the end of the 1800’s leaving the school room and trying to make their way in the upper levels of London society. There are a few flickers of the characters trying to get out of the cookie cutter trope, but they don’t quite make it. When the main character doesn’t thin she’s pretty just because she has red hair I find myself rolling my eyes.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a light quick book where the gowns are given a through description, but I found myself a bit bothered by how it glossed over somethings. Princess Alexandria’s deafness is a good example of this, it’s mentioned once, but the character never seems to have an issue with it. Nor is the fact that in real life she had a very heavy accent and tended not to speak very much due to the language barrier and hearing difficulties.

And perhaps that’s the main problem I have with this book; it feels like a sketch of a book that could have really gone deeper with both characters and story, but just floated on top. There is also some choppiness with the plot timeline that I found myself having to check the pages to figure out if I had skipped some at some points.

But a light read, it was nice to read something set during the Paris expedition for a change.


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Review: Scarlet Nights

Scarlet Nights by Jude Deveraux
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Scarlet Nights happens in the middle of a series set in Deveraux’s small Virginia town which seems completely peopled by the descendants Scottish settlers. I’m not sure if this is completely true as this is the only book in the series that I have read at this point, but one does wonder about everyone being somehow related to one another and the effect it might have.

Mike Newland comes into this situation on the hunt for a family of con people. Apparently, his sister has lived in the town for some time (a situation that is most likely covered in another book) and thus Newland’s bosses think that cover. I’m not sure about the legalities that allow a Miami undercover police agent work without back-up in small town Virginia, but that’s what happens and he seems like a nice enough guy so I’ll allow it.

Sara Shaw is a beloved golden-hearted friend to everyone in town, and has fallen into the trap of being taken advantage of by most people in addition to her boyfriend/soon-to-be husband Greg Anders. Everything she says about Anders (who disappears very quickly at the beginning) makes the reader want to shake her and say ‘no, you don’t marry this kind of guy.’ The whole town is of the same mind-set which makes Sarah double down on her choice.

The whole book is pretty fast paced, although you can pretty much figure out what’s going to happen pretty quickly, the only thing in question is what the Mcguffin is going to be. Someone who has read other books in the series will probably get more out of it as there are multiple character who show-up through out who were most likely main characters in other books.

I’m not sure I would recommend this book to someone who has had experience with an emotionally abusive relationship, although there isn’t much in the way of in-book abuse, there is some mentioned for both Sara and Mike. Everything turns out well in the end, but if you feel you get triggered you might want to try our one of the other books in the series.


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Review: Issued to the Bride: One Navy SEAL

Issued to the Bride: One Navy SEAL by Cora Seton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The first in a series, 'One Navy Seal' has a huge info dump at the beginning that sets up all the characters for the next 5 books. It felt a bit like having a guest list thrown at my head and I had a bit of an issue trying to remember who was who at first.

The other main point that might bother some readers more than others, is that you have to be willing to go all in on a very unlikely scenario that would allow the General to pull off his plan. You will have to have a suspension bridge of disbelief to get into this book. The added bit of mysticism really hammers that home. The Love at First sight it not the hardest thing to believe in this book.

That being said, it's a solid, fast read. Brian is a nice guy, and although I would have liked to have seen more of the development of the relationship between him and Cass (the timeline gets a bit irritating) I did find myself cheering for them.

I probably won't go out of my way to read the rest of the series, but if I come across them I might still pick them up.

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